5 years later (en)
by Siiimply-jen
Summary: I suck at summary. It happens 5 years after Caleb headed to Ravenswood. They have to work together on Aria new book. Read and Review please. I love you guys 3


**Okay people, you have absolutely now idea of how much I would have love to be born in England. I LOVE writing but the words come really so more spontaneously in French… I wish I was bilingual but unfortunately i'm far from that. **

**Love you guys, please be nice. If I made mistake do not hesitate and correct me please 3**

**Of course I don't own the characters, I I did, I don't think Ravenswood would ever exist POUAH 3**

**Special thanks to AuthorABC123 for correcting this, even if I was to dumb to realize it in the first place. This means a lot to me. 3 3 And I LOVE your stories sooooo much :)**

"… and at this exact moment, Emily hands the towel to her, and she walks away without a word. I swear to god girls: it was AM-A-ZING…"

Cozily settled in Spencer Hastings huge living room, the 4 girls were having one of their "catching up" parties like they used to do. This was all of these Friday nights where they could tell each other everything, which had made them stay so close, five years after high school ended. After those few years, they were surprisingly almost the same. Spencer was in the rocking chair Toby had made for her years ago, her hair obediently pulled back in a severe bun. She was sipping her wine in an elegant stem glass.

On the other side of the coffee table, Aria had her leg folded under her, and Emily's head was laying on a cushion against her thigh. Both of them had the same style as they did in high school, and the same haircut. You could have easily pictured them in a classroom, but neither of them wanted to go back there…

Emily was now the coach of Rosewood swimming team. She completed college with Paige, and they came back to live in the town where they had grown up. Paige wasn't always here because she was swimming in competitions.

Aria had had a hard time facing the end of her relation with Ezra: discovering that the one she considered the "love of her life" had spied on her for years to reach out to her not-so-dead best friend can really kill a relationship. However, she had been followed by a good shrink, and the support of her friends had helped her to pass all of this. She had get her joie de vivre back and just released a book about their story: "the devil within". Sales show a phenomenal success. She was living in Rosewood too, and was spending a lot of time with Emily (especially when Paige was on the road). They were, as a matter of fact, telling how Emily gave Jenna's daughter a rocket this week at the pool.

Spencer was listening to their story, with a smile on her lips. Toby hadn't had any contact with his adoptive sister for years. The newly married couple had moved to the town next door : they only came back to Rosewood for some parties with the girls (where there was no Jenna, no Mona, or no Alison).

Finally, in the corner of the room, pacing up and down and speaking on her phone, there was Hanna. She was the one of them who had changed the most. Of course, she still had the same blond hair, and the same insanely blue eyes. But there was nothing naïve or innocent left in the look she gave people. She was wearing a black trouser suit, with a pale blue long sleeve shirt which highlighted her eyes, and a black jacket: not girly and flowery anymore, but simple, elegant, and sophisticated.

"There is NO WAY we change the end of Aria's book for the movie, OK? First of all, I will NOT do a fake move especially if I'm in it. Second of all, this story is what really happened, and I will not let anybody turn Mona into a poor victim or Ezra into a sweet lover with no bone in his whole body just to let little kids eat popcorn. Clear?"

The girl gave a quick look to the others, who seemed to be absorbed in their conversation and hadn't listened to a single word of her phone-call. However, she kept her voice down.

"Listen to me Ryan, I know Aria really well, and I know how she suffered with all of that. There is absolutely NO WAY somebody else is going to rewrite what she went through. She put so much into this story and I'm not gonna give up on her to please the box office. If they want me for the movie, and you know how much they want me, the ending stays the same. It is my only and last offer."

And with that, she hung up abruptly and came back to sit down on the sofa next to Spencer who gave her a mi admiring, mi disapproving look :

"Will you stop working sometimes? It's a Friday night, and you just finished your last movie like two hours ago. Aren't you supposed to be on a break right now?"

Hanna shrugged her shoulders

"You know what they say: the show must go on."

She grabbed her glass of red wine, which rested on the coffee table, and began sipping it while listening to the others who were narrating anecdotes about Rosewood. Sometimes, she missed not living here anymore. She would have loved to pass in front of Emily's house every day when she was going to work, to buy a coffee and listen to Spencer debating with one of the book club members, and to stroll around the park hand in hand with Caleb… But no, she worked in New York most of the time so it would be a long commute every morning. Besides, Spencer hadn't been in any book clubs in a long time and Caleb… well she and Caleb weren't really talking anymore. Those things happen when your boyfriend (ordinary so logical) tells you he can't be with you because "he has to get back to Ravenswood because there is a spell on him and 4 other people". Hanna shook her head, as if she wanted to brush off a nightmare. Even if finally, it appeared that all of this "magic theory" was another of A set up to make them suffer, the harm was done and the couple wasn't able to pick up the pieces: the fights had been too violent and hurting. The thing is that when 2 people know each other so well, they are also really good at hurting each other…

"Hanna, are you with us?"

The blond girl was brutally pulled back into reality, helped by Spencer pinching her forearm.

"Uh? What? Sorry, I was thinking about work…"

On the other side of the coffee table, Aria rolled her eyes.

"Who would have known that Hanna-master-in-skipping-classes would become such a work addict."

Hanna shrugged her shoulders.

"I didn't like math Aria… Producing a movie has nothing to do with derivatives!"

Her interlocutor raised an eyebrow.

"Wow, I was just kidding. Relax Hanna…"

She bit her lower lips and hung her head.

"Sorry girls, it has been a really stressful couple of weeks and I could really use some sleep. I never intended to jump all over you."

Emily supported herself on her elbow to look Hanna in the eyes.

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep here? I don't like knowing you are on the road in the middle of the night, especially when you look so tired."

But the blonde shook her head no, while looking at her watch.

"Impossible. I have a meeting for Aria's book tomorrow morning in LA: we may have find a place for the set here. I take off from New York at 5am tomorrow… As a matter of fact, I have to go if want to be able to pass by my apartment in New York before going to the airport. I'll sleep on the plane…"

She stood up and put her empty glass on the table. The only one she had drunk the whole evening.

"Thanks for tonight girls. It was really good seeing you and being dragged into reality like that. Everything happens so fast in showbiz and it is really great to pause sometimes and have some news about Rosewood…"

One by one, the 3 other girls stood up to hug her. Then, she got her coat back. She was lacing her scarf around her neck when Aria released her bombshell.

"I spoke to Caleb, on the phone…"

Hanna frightened and stared at Aria without a world. You could read interrogation marks in her eyes when Aria went on:

"You remember, I had to contact him for the book since he is in it. Well… He read it and he called me to congratulate me. He really liked it. He told me the characters are really well written and very close to reality… It was really nice of him…"

Hanna released her breath slowly… and at the time, realized she had stopped breathing… which caused her to kick her butt mentally.

"That's all? How is he?"

Aria was hesitating, avoiding meeting Hanna's eyes. That was enough for Hanna to skip a heartbeat. She screwed up her eyes and scanned Aria with her look.

"Come on! What is it?!"

"It's really nothing… He is fine, working in New York for some video games company. In fact, I got the impression that he has people working for him more than the other way around, but he was pretty vague… He…"

She bit her lips again.

"He offered to adapt the book into a video game but…"

Hanna was about to open her mouth to congratulate her when…

"… I said no."

So she changed her words:

"What? Are you CRAZY ? It's such a great opportunity!"

Aria shook her head:

"Of course, it may be great. But I really can't picture that on a wii…"

The two other girls weren't saying a word. But they seemed to see something Hanna was missing because they weren't protesting either. Didn't they see that it was a lame excuse? It took another second before she figured it out: her friend was trying to protect her!

"Aria… You know I love you. And I love you even more for doing that. But it's because I love you that I forbid you to refuse this opportunity for me. It would be really stupid and immature…"

She could see Aria was still hesitating

"But… You and Caleb…"

"Me and Caleb nothing! Caleb and I are both 24 years old. Caleb and I are both adults, responsible and civilized people who are really capable of sitting down in the same room to match fictional characters between a movie and a video game OK? The only fact that you could imagine the opposite would really hurt me."

Hanna knew she was pushing and forcing Aria to forget about her. But she didn't want her friend to drop that for an old high school sweetheart... Okay, maybe a little bit more than that, but still … Past tense. And it was working, because Aria actually smiled at her and said:

"Okay, I will think about it then…"

The blond girl smiled back and finished lacing her scarf.

"You're crazy for just thinking about it. I really think you should say yes. I would have said yes in a heartbeat. Anyway, keep me informed please… Because if it's yes, I have to take some dispositions for matching the personage looks, ok?"

Finally, she let Spencer lead her to the door and hit the road to New York. She had three hours before arriving home and this was more than enough to think about all the implications of the new revelation. In front of her friends, she seemed so sure about herself. But deep down inside, she so wasn't. Could she really act like a responsible adult and sit down with Caleb while being 100% professional? After all, he was the one who had known her better than anyone. Was she supposed to ask about him? Ask about his life? Ask what he has done for all those years? And what had he done for all those years, actually? Was he married? Did he have children? Was he changed? But most of all, was he going to find HER changed?


End file.
